Thursday, 17 September 2015

The Golden Age of Light Music: Table for Two

The melody that immediately
caught my eye on this charming compilation of romantic tunes was Mel Young’s ‘Rainbow
Room’. It seems to epitomise this latest CD in the The Golden Age of Light Music series. The ‘Rainbow Room’ in New York (which I
assume is the inspiration for this melody) was opened in 1934 and is located on
the 65th floor of the Rockefeller Centre. When I last visited it, we
arrived at about five p.m., claimed a seat at a ‘table for two’ as near as
possible to the window and ordered a bottle of wine and some sandwiches. Later,
we finished with two Manhattan’s. Dusk was just beginning to settle and we
watched the skyscrapers light up slowly. The cocktail pianist was working his
way through a selection of ‘standards’ in a typically, melancholic style. It is an experience I shall not forget and
this disc helps me to remember. Virtually every track on this CD
is a gem. Most bring some sort of captivating mental picture to the listener.
Some are miniature musical portraits: others are delightful love songs. I
consider them in no particular order.

Bruce Campbell provides the title
track ‘Table for Two’ before Jerome Kern reminds the listener that ‘The Night was
made for Love’. I guess that not every
boy and girl can afford Walter Stott’s ‘Pearls on Velvet’, but sweeping strings
and trumpet solo can bring the possibility just that little bit closer.

As an enthusiast of the John
Gregson film The Captain’s Table, I
warmed to Peter de Rose’s smoochy ‘The Grass Widow’s Lament’. See this
enjoyable film to find out the allusion. A little more ‘up tempo’ is the ‘Valse Magique’
by Oscar Denayer and Louis Logist.
Leslie Coward’s name rings a bell: his ‘Daydreams’ is a lovely
standalone miniature. Equally striking is Keith Papworth’s ‘Dreamtime’. Cyril Watters’ ‘Southern Twilight’ does not
seem to reflect an American South: it has a definite Iberian feel to it,
complete with castanets. This is definitely Majorca rather than ‘down Mexico
way.’

Well-known songs and tunes trip
over each other: Jerome Kern’s ‘Can’t help lovin’dat man’ from Show Boat is a standard [listed as by
George Gershwin, from Porgy and Bess
in the liner notes and track listing], Hoagy Carmichael’s ‘The Nearness of You’
is, as Eric Morecambe used to say, ‘One of the Greats.’

I just loved Guenther Sonneborn ‘Honeymoon
for Strings’: it is so typical of light music of the period. Lots of swishing
strings, pizzicato and some nice exotic percussion. It is one of the most
characteristically ‘light’ pieces of music on this CD. Werner Richard Heymann’s
‘When the Music is playing’ is vivacious and sounds just a little like the
theme to Top of the Form (Marching
Strings). ‘Serentella’ by Dennis Stoll is a gorgeous tone poem that evokes thoughts
of a misty day by the sea. It is way too short.

Trevor Duncan’s contribution is
the sweeping strings, muted brass and sulky piano of the impossibly romantic ‘Supper
with Stephie’ - which is up to his usual high standard. Eddy Wall’s ‘Look at
Me’ with its lugubrious trumpet solo, is an apposite title: I imagine that it
would be very easy for one or other of the lovers to be distracted by the
stunning views from the Rainbow Room as the darkness falls over the Hudson and
the East Rivers. They may need a gentle reminder of why they are there in the
first place. Then Raymond Jones’ ‘Easy Talk’ may pass the time until the next
dance. But then he can whisper to his
partner to the strains of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby that ‘I love you so much.’
Perhaps he or she will be surprised and suggest that ‘I never knew’ which is
the title of Ted Fiorita and Gus Kahn’s romantically-charged song.

Not quite sure what a ‘Fashion
Line’ is: I imagine it is a high-end clothing retailer. This lovely tune by
Anthony Spurgin is seriously laid back so I guess that money is no real object
to these browsers.

The word ‘Debutante’ has gone out
of fashion in these more enlightened times, however there are many who will
remember ‘The Season’, when the ‘Debs’ came out and were presented to the
Queen. The last occasion this happened
in the UK was in 1958. George English in his happy reflection on this occasion
has vitality and humour.I guess that Cy Crawford’s ‘Love
in the Clouds’ could be imagined in the Rainbow Room, or it could be ‘Flying Down
to Rio.’ It is certainly not sitting on the summit of Scafell Pike on a cold,
wet and windy day. Peter Dennis’s ‘Fashion
House’ could easily be in New York, yet the mood is altogether more English:
Regent Street in London seems to be nearer the mark.

I have never heard of Kurt Schick
– I wonder if it is a pseudonym –his ‘Gorgeous Girl’ seems to sum up much of
the preceding selection, although there is definitely a touch of the
mischievous in this particular musical portrait.

The final song on this ‘fab’ CD
is a transcription of Harry Ruby’s ‘Nevertheless (I'm In Love with You)’ by
William Hill-Bowen: it brings this lovely romantic CD to a quiet reflective
conclusion.This was the last collection of
the The Golden Age of Light Music engineered
by David Ades before his death in February 2015. The 127 albums that he
produced have been hugely interesting, inspiring, often fun, frequently
romantic and always downright enjoyable. Fortunately, Alan Bunting and Guild
have decided to continue the series in a ‘similar manner.’The present CD is one of most
enjoyable of the series that I have heard. This exploration of music for a
romantic evening is a fitting compliment to Ades’ achievement.

Bert KALMAR, Harry RUBY arr. William
HILL-BOWEN (1918-64) Nevertheless (I'm In Love with You) The Living Strings
conducted by William Hill-Bowen (1960) Rec. 1956-62 All Tracks Mono except ‘The Night was Made for
Love’, ‘When the Music is Playing’ & ‘Nevertheless (I'm In Love with You)’
(Stereo).

GUILD GLCD 5227

With thanks to MusicWeb International where this review was first published.

About Me

I am well over fifty years old: the end of the run of baby boomers! I was born in Glasgow, moving south to York in the late ‘seventies. I now work in London.
My main interest is British Music from the nineteenth century onwards.
I love the ‘arch-typical’ English countryside – and have always wanted to ‘Go West, Boy’.
A. E. Housman and the ‘Georgian’ poets are a huge influence on my aesthetic. I have spent much of my life looking for the ‘Land of Lost Content’ and only occasionally glimpsed it…somewhere in…???
My recently published work includes essays on Ivor Gurney’s song ‘On Wenlock Edge’ for the Gurney Society Journal, The Music of Marion Scott and a study of Janet Hamilton’s songs for the British Music Society Journal, and the composer Muriel Herbert for the Housman Society.
I have contributed to the journals of the Ralph Vaughan Williams Society, the Finzi Society, and the Bliss Society, the Berkeley Society, the BMS Newsletter and regular CD reviews for MusicWeb International.